Cause she was a Slytherin and I was a Gryffindor
by xoxtruegryffindorxox
Summary: I could only hope. I knew who she was, and now...She knew who I was. And she didn't seem too happy about it.  Because, I was a Gryffindor, and she was a Slytherin, and everyone knows that them two houses just don't go together.


_I watched as the girl in front of me pulled down the White and blue mask over her soft complexion. Her big, brown, Doe shaped eyes staring back at me, no emotion what so ever. I carried on watching, hoping that she wouldn't hate me, hoping that she wouldn't regret the past few hours. But, again, I could only hope. I knew who she was, and now...She knew who I was. And she didn't seem too happy about it.  
>Because, I was a Gryffindor, and she was a Slytherin, and everyone knows that them two houses just don't go together.<em>

**3 Hours earlier.**

****  
>I pulled on my soft White dress, watching it fall to my mid thigh as the blue feathers stood out against my pale skin. My hair curled against my shoulders, my side fringe pinned up in a sort of quiff. I placed a gold snake round my wrist, staying true to my house, which was of course Slytherin.<br>I pulled on a pair of cream heels using my wand to make sure they wouldn't fall off and to make them just that little bit comfier, always a plus side of being a witch!

I added a hint of eyeliner and black mascara, again, using my wand, before I pulled out a gold and blue mask, laying it on my bed, before I turned and watched my best friend get ready. She turned at nearly the same time, her eyes widening as they did so.  
>'Heather, you look...Stunning' she whispered to me, my pale cheeks now having gained a small tint of red. 'You look...so different! Your hair!' she carried on, walking over to me and touching my now red hair slightly. 'Someone is seriously going to mistake you for Ginny Weasley!' I gave a small laugh, not believing a word, until I looked in the mirror, with the mask on; I really wasn't going to look like me tonight at all.<p>

'Wow, I just cast the charm, I had no idea what was going to happen' I whispered, fingering a few of the fiery red strands of hair that had fallen down on my chest, not recognising myself as I looked at my reflection. My natural browny blonde hair had been turned bright red, something that actually suited me very well. I turned back to Georgia, who had decided upon a cream dress, the material flowing down: a sort of lace pattern running down to the ends. Her short brown hair had been made longer, the ends coming midway down her back, the brown colour now having been turned midnight purple, making her greeny brown eyes pop.

'Enough about me, what about you! I smiled as I made my way across the dormitory we shared. Even though there were originally 5 of us at the beginning of our 1st year, the other three hadn't returned for our '8th'. Due to the war last year, every seventh year had been given the opportunity to return to complete their studies. Georgia and I had been the only two slytherin's to agree. 'Someone's going to be falling at your feet tonight!' I told her knowingly, 'as long as he recognises you that is.' I laughed.  
>'Oh he will. He was with me when I bought the dress. So as long as he remembers, it's all good!' she laughed as she pulled on her Beige heels, casting the same charms I had a couple of minutes ago, before she pulled on her green and silver mask, casting yet another charm to make it stick till midnight.<br>'Well then, are we ready?' I asked, grabbing Georgia's arm before we made our way out of our dorm.

Since the end of the war, many things had changed at Hogwarts. The houses still loathed each other, but that was expected. One of the big changes, or in this case, additions, was the masquerade ball. There weren't many rules, but the ones that were in place were as follows:

**One has to wear a mask (obviously).  
>The said mask must stay on one's face until midnight.<br>One may change one's appearance.**

And that is it. Three simple rules to the night if our lives. So here we were, Georgia and I making our way to the great hall, along with the rest if the school. Well, 4th years and above. The lower part of the school was at home as it was Christmas Eve. They weren't allowed at the ball anyway.

'Heather?' a dreamy voice echoed down the hallway, 'Georgia?'

'Luna!' I smiled as I turned towards the voice. Anyone could recognise that voice anywhere. 'How did you recognise us?' I smiled, walking over to hug another of my best friends. You see, me and Georgia weren't your typical slytherin's, we didn't think we were better than others, we were sarcastic, and we did have Slytherin tendencies, but we knew what was right, and what was wrong. We could have a good laugh, yet we would stop something if it wasn't right. The amount of times we had been bitched at by fellow slytherin's was unbelievable, but we had each other so it didn't matter. Besides, since we WERE different from the others, we had gained friends along the way. Ones that wouldn't necessarily mix with slytherin's.  
>In our 3rd year, we had befriended Neville Longbottom. It took a while to persuade him that we were ok, but when we did, it was a good and strong friendship, that was still going strong to the day! And then, sometime later we made friends with Luna Lovegood. Who, might be a little...different, but she was certainly a laugh to be around. And then there was the Weasley twins. Who Georgia and I had 'Bumped' into in our 2nd year, their 4th. The Weasley twins were different, they knew where their loyalties lied, but they could move past stereotypes placed on us two slytherin's. Sure, we had had our differences, and our loyalties had been questioned several times, but the four of us worked well, even ending in the two of us giving them a few ideas for Weasley wizard wheezes, along with Lee Jordan. A Few months ago, when the war had ended, us two girls helped them both get the shop up and running again! Much to their gratitude, also offering us a job whenever we wanted one. Personally, my expectations out of life ran a little bit higher than helping out at a joke shop, not that I wouldn't love a summer Job there!<p>

Georgia had also become VERY friendly with their brother in the past few years, well, at first she thought that he wouldn't like her because of her house but when she had found him in a classroom, alone one day, things sort of...Escalated from there. But enough about her, this is my story.

So here we were, me and Georgia stood in the middle of the corridor, Luna next to us, all of us holding onto each other's hands tightly, ready for the masks to lead us, hoping no one would recognise me, or even mistake me for someone else.

The three of us walked into the great hall, mouth open when we saw what McGonagall had done to the place. It was breathtaking! The ceiling had been bewitched to make it look like it was snowing, the 'snow' fading out after a couple of metres, the snow never touching the floor. There were several Christmas trees placed around the edge, all of them decorated oh so extravagantly. Beautiful angels perched on the top of them, their wings capturing the light perfectly.  
>'Wow!' Georgia whispered, head tilted looking at the tall ceiling.<br>'I know!' I whispered back, head in the same position. I glanced across the room, taking in everyone's costumes for the night, masks perched high on people's faces, people's hair a mixture of colour.  
>'Watch out for the nargles, they like to hide!' Luna said in her usual dreamy voice before I watched her skip off, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. It wasn't long before I watched her embrace Neville, planting a small kiss of his waiting lips. They had been dating since the end of the war, a place where many new budding romances sported as well! Just, unfortunately not for me. There was just no one I liked, no one who understood the real me. They were either too concerned with what house I was in or too busy with everything else to notice me. Not that I cared, I didn't want anyone who couldn't look past my house or what I believed in or not make time for me. I could do better than that!<p>

I watched as a red headed boy ran over, hugging Georgia from behind.  
>'Please say I'm right!' he shouted, making Georgia jump more!<br>'So do I! I better be the first you have done this too' she carried on, turning round as she did so.  
>'You might have been' Ron said weakly, winking at her, showing that she was, before bending down slightly, pressing his lips to hers.<br>'And one that note, I'm off for a drink!' I moaned as I made my way away from the kissing couple. I walked over to the drinks table, grabbing a large bottle of butterbeer, pulling the top off before I pushed the end to my mouth, taking a large gulp. The creamy liquid ran down the inside of my throat, warming me up since the ice inside the hall had brought everyone body temperature's down.

I turned back round, facing the dancing students before I felt the presence of someone standing next to me.

'Dancing not your thing?' a deep voice said as he looked out at everyone else, his eye line the same as mine.

'No. Can't stand it.' I replied, not looking at the guy next to me. There was no point if he knew who I was. They weren't a Slytherin, so what was the actual point? Everyone else hates me.

'Me either. Too boring' he laughed slightly, soon stopping when he realised I wasn't. 'Who are you? You're not Ginny, she's over there with Harry, and there no one else in school with your hair.' He continued after a short pause. 'Unless…'

'Unless I used some spell to change it. Well done!' I snapped, not really wanting to talk to anyone, until I realised just how rude I was being. 'Sorry, it's my two best friends are over there snogging their boyfriends and I really don't want to feel like a 3rd wheel. I'm fed up of being by myself' I told him, before taking another swig of my butterbeer.

'Who are your friends?' He asked, instead of replying I pointed across the hall at Ron and Georgia dancing and Luna and Neville laughing at something.

'Ahh, ok.' He smiled, before taking my hand and pulling me across the hall.

'What the hell do you think you're doing?' I asked a little shocked at the way he was pulling me. I didn't even know who he was for Christ sake.

'We are going to dance!' he replied somewhat smugly. Thinking it was a good idea to pull a stranger into the middle of the dance floor. It wasn't.

He placed his hand on my waist, the other round my back and pulled me slightly closer to him, my hands instinctively going to his shoulder and back. We swayed slightly in time to the music, dancing slightly. And I had to admit, whoever this stranger was, it was nice. Just not having a care in the world.

'Who are you?' I asked softly as I rested my head against my mystery man. He had given no indication of who he was.

'Me? I'm not important. But you Heather Johnson are. You're amazing.' He smiled at me, shocking me when he used my name.

'How do you know who I am?' I asked, stepping back a little. Shocked just didn't describe how I was feeling. He knew who I was yet he didn't run away. Hadn't made an excuse to disappear.

'Course I do. Not many people are friends with both Luna and Heppell. In fact, I would say you were the only one, apart from Neville, and I don't think there is a spell to change your sex. That and I can see him over there!' he smirked a little, pointing to both Luna and Neville. Neville dancing slightly awkwardly next to a dancing Luna, who had her hands in the air, somewhat similarly to a giraffe. I gave a slight giggle at my two friends, before I turned to Georgia and Ron who were curled up next to each other, Georgia's head on Ron's chest, him whispering something into her ear. Then, they got up, a large smile visible on Georgia's lips. I shook my head slightly at her before I turned back to my mystery man, who was incidentally staring at me.

'That's very true. But why are you still here? Whoever you are? Most people run a mile.' I told him, mentally kicking myself when I realised that I had told him one of the things that got to me the most.

'It doesn't matter who I am. Like I said, I'm not important. But I'm not like everyone else. I'm different.' He told me, winking slightly before he pulled me into a hug, my head resting on his chest in a comforting kind of way. He smelt nice, whoever HE was. I was still yet to find out.

My Mystery Man and I talked for a while, moving from the middle of the dance floor to the seats scattered along the sides, randomly chatting about anything and everything, me hoping to find out a little more about him. But he was clever. He never gave anything away that would reveal his identity. Much to my annoyance.

'So, what are you planning on doing after school Heather?' He asked, staring at me deeply, smiling slightly.

'I want to be an Auror. I want to show everyone that just because of my house, I am a good person!' I smiled back, glad that he wanted to know more about me.

'I like it. And there's nothing wrong with your house. Not all Slytherin's are bad.' He replied, squeezing my shoulder slightly.

'What about you?' I asked back, wanting to know everything I could about the boy in front of me.

'Me? I want to explore the world. Get out there and just have fun. I need it after the war, I need somewhere to just let go. And after? I don't know. Something worthwhile, something good.' He smiled back at me, but he wasn't looking at me, he was staring past my head, at nothing in particular, just imaging what his life could be like.

'I like it.' I replied, using his line that he said to me only minutes before. 'It's a way of getting free.'

'Indeed it is.'

We carried on talking for another few hours, before we got back up to dance, another slow song coming out into the busy room.

I rested my head on his chest again as he held me close, that was until I heard a scream coming out through the doors, with a very wet Georgia laughing her way through, followed by an equally wet Ron.

'Typical!' I laughed before I rested my head back on my Mystery Man.

It wasn't until the end of the 3rd song that I looked up at him. Even in my heals he was still that little bit taller than me. And he was short. Maybe my heals weren't as tall as I originally thought.

Our faces were close, touching even. I looked past his red and gold mask, staring into his deep brown eyes, getting slightly lost. He stared back at me, moving his lips that little bit closer to mine. Until they touched, leaving a burning feeling as they moved against mine.

'Do you not think we are moving a little fast?' I asked once we pulled away. 'I don't even know your name!'

'I feel like I've known you for years. And you don't have to know my name. Not yet.' He replied softly. I watched him intently for another few seconds, until I saw something out of the corner of my eye. The ends of my red hair were turning brown, only slightly, but it was pretty visible. Since I hadn't recognised the boy in front of me all evening, I knew that he must have used some sort of concealment charm too. I looked back to the top of his head, his once sandy hair now turning a deep brown, somewhat similar to his eyes.

'What about now?' I asked looking at the clock, realising it was a few minutes past midnight.

'What if you don't like me.' he asked: the worry visible in his voice.

'I like you know don't I?' I responded, hoping that he would remove his mask soon. I needed to know who he was. I lifted my mask up, perching it high on my forehead, waiting for him to do the same. After a few minutes, of painful silence, he did so. Lifting his mask up high, pulling it off his head and holding it in his hands, before looking down, slightly embarrassed.

'Finnigan?'

_I watched as the girl in front of me pulled down the White and blue mask over her soft complexion. Her big, brown, Doe shaped eyes staring back at me, no emotion what so ever. I carried on watching, hoping that she wouldn't hate me, hoping that she wouldn't regret the past few hours. But, again, I could only hope. I knew who she was, and now...She knew who I was. And she didn't seem too happy about it.  
>Because, I was a Gryffindor, and she was a Slytherin, and everyone knows that them two houses just don't go together.<em>

_But instead of turning round, leaving me staring at her, she did something else. Something which reassured me that everything would be ok. She took my hand, pulling me close, and kissed me again. It was gentle, yet it had everything in there to know that she liked me. _

_I smiled into the kiss, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her close. And I knew, deep down, that everything would be ok. I could wash away her insecurities and she could wipe away mine…_

_Cause she was a Slytherin and I was a Gryffindor._

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